A participatory approach is an approach in which the end users of a sanitation or water system are involved in the planning of the system from the start. This contrasts to the more traditional top-down methods of planning, in which the needs of users were often 'filled in' by officials, who might have a different perception of actual needs of the users. A good participatory approach improves motivation, increases learning and feelings of ownership and enables community empowerment. By raising awareness about the water or sanitation issues, it enables the users to make an 'informed choice' about what will become their system.
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Participation of the users is now seen as essential to attain sustainable development. First of all, involving and informing the users helps in ensuring that the identified problems and chosen solutions really reflect the needs and preferences felt by the users. This increases the chance that implemented solutions are really used. Systems which are perceived to be inconvenient, difficult to operate, or in other ways do not correspond to the needs and preferences of the users have a high chance of not being used, or adapted in ways that cause pollution or health risks.
Many different Participatory approaches have been developed in the past. Below, we highlight the NETSAFF and PHAST approaches, and provide a list of additional approaches.
===NETSAFF===
NETSSAF<ref>[http://www.netssaf.net/ Main website NETSAFF]</ref> stands for "Network for the development of Sustainable Approaches for large scale implementation of Sanitation in Africa". NATSSAF was a project that started in June 2006 and which was sponsored by the European Commission. It's goal was to identify sustainable sanitation systems in peri-urban and rural areas.
*providers of design, planning and general consulting on both technical and non-technical aspects of sanitation.
===PHAST===
Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation (PHAST) is designed to promote hygiene behaviour and sanitation improvements at community level using a specifically developed participatory technique. The approach has been applied with positive results although research is needed to assess its cost effectiveness. Typically it is applied by NGOs to improve household and personal hygiene behaviour together with toilet coverage. Links to information can be found below.
PHAST was developed and applied in East and southern Africa, and adapted to other countries such as Somalia and the Dominican Republic. It consists of a participatory approach in which people learn about their situation, make plans to improve this and then change their behaviour. Special techniques, such as mapping and ranking, are used for this process of self-discovery and analysis. The approach can be used where initial latrine coverage is low.
===Other participatory approaches===
An overview of different Participatory Approaches can be found in this [http://www.netssaftutorial.com/fileadmin/DATA_CD/03_Step3/3C6_Review_of_the_existing_participatory_sanitation_planning_tools.doc Review of participatory sanitation planning tools], produced by the NETSAFF project.
*Open planning<ref>[http://www.ecosanres.org/pdf_files/ESR_Publications_2004/ESR3web.pdf Kvarnström, E. & Petersens, E. (2004). Open planning of sanitation systems.] Source: [http://www.ecosanres.org www.ecosanres.org]</ref>
*Sanitation 21<ref> [http://www.iwahq.org/uploads/iwa%20hq/website%20files/task%20forces/sanitation%2021/Sanitation21v2.pdf International Water Association. Sanitation 21, Simple Aproaches to Complex Sanitation.] Source: [http://www.iwahq.org International Water Association].</ref>
*Household-Centred Centered Environmental Sanitation (HCES) <ref>[http://www.eawag.ch/organisation/abteilungen/sandec/schwerpunkte/sesp/hces/index_EN EAWAG (2005). The HCES approach (available in English, Spanish, French).] Source: [http://www.eawag.ch www.eawag.ch].</ref>
*[[Community-Led Total Sanitation|Community led total sanitation]] <ref>[http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/bookshop/wp/Wp257%20pg.pdf Kar, K. (2005). Practical Guide to Triggering Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS).] Source: [http://www.livelihoods.org www.livelihoods.org]</ref> <ref>[http://www.livelihoods.org/hot_topics/CLTS.html#2 Community Led Total Sanitation]. Source: [http://www.livelihoods.org www.livelihoods.org]</ref>
===External links===
'''PHAST'''<br>
*[http://www.irc.nl/docsearch/title/155382 IRCDOC title: Somali PHAST step-by-step guide (2007)]
*[http://yellowpagesofsanitation.com/ NETSAFF Yellow Pages - a directory of sanitation system providers]
===References===
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